On March 07, 2023, meeting of the Working Group on Coordination of Twinning and TAIEX instruments implementation was held.

In welcoming speech, Nataliia Aliushyna, Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (hereinafter – NAUCS), welcomed the participants of the meeting and noted that the implementation of Twinning and TAIEX institutional building instruments in Ukraine is the key to effective implementation of strategic reforms and adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to the norms and standards of the European Union.

In turn, Frederik Coene, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, expressed his gratitude for effective cooperation within the framework of the Twinning and TAIEX implementation, focusing on the main achievements in 2022.

For her part, Maryna Kanavets, Director of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union, presented the main results of the processing of the Twinning project proposals received from the government authorities within Twinning programming in 2022.

Victoria Brich, Twinning Coordinator of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, in her turn, made suggestions regarding the updating of the Twinning Projects Work Plan in view of the loss of relevance of certain projects.

In addition, Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring, presented the Twinning Projects Work Plan in Ukraine, which includes 76 projects (57 projects completed, 3 projects are at the stage of implementation, 16 projects are at the stage of preparation of the Twinning Fiche).

Within the framework of the meeting, Anna Strashuk, TAIEX Coordinator of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine and Yana Nykolaieva, Head of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring, discussed the draft Plan of Involvement of the External Assistance of the European Commission within the framework of TAIEX for 2023. Also, the results of attracting technical assistance from the European Commission under TAIEX instrument for 2022 were outlined.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Office of the President of Ukraine, Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, NAUCS and Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.

For reference: in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of October 11, 2016 No 700 “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of Twinning Projects” (as amended by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of August 22, 2018 No 663) NAUCS coordinates the implementation of the European Union Twinning institution building instrument in Ukraine. According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of September 09, 2020  No 813 “On approval of the Procedure for preparation, approval and implementation of the plan to attract external assistance of the European Commission under TAIEX, the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union coordinates the implementation of the TAIEX institution building tool in Ukraine.

We obtained the candidacy. This year is the time to decide on the launch of membership negotiations.

It is with Ukraine that the majestic project of a peaceful, free and united Europe will be complete.

We are together in the struggle, and therefore we will be together in victory. Long live Europe! Long live freedom! 

On 22 February, 2023 in the online mode the closing meeting of the Twinning project for the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (hereinafter – AMCU) “Support to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in further approximation of legal, procedural and case enforcement practices with EU antitrust and merger control practices” (hereinafter – Project) took place.

The Project was implemented by the AMCU jointly with antitrust authorities of the consortium of European Union Member States, namely Lithuania, Romania and Germany.

The aim of the Project is to increase the effectiveness, transparency and consistency of the antitrust policy in Ukraine on the basis of closer alignment of national antitrust legislation to the legislation of EU Member States in accordance with the requirements of the Association Agreement between European Union and Ukraine.

In welcoming speech, Olga Pishchanska, BC Project Leader, expressed her gratitude to the European side for effective cooperation within the Project implementation. At the same time, Project Leader noted the thorough preparation of draft Law No. 5431, which is currently being considered in the second reading. In her speech, Olga Pishchanska emphasized an important component of the Project implementation, namely, strengthening team building among the AMCU employees and sharing experience, in particular by organizing lectures on the European legislation implementation for university students. “Project has become a significant contribution and consistent continuation of the antitrust reform in Ukraine”, – said the Project Leader.

In turn, Panagiotis Stamoulis, representative of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, expressed the words of support and gratitude to the Project partners, in particular, emphasizing the success of the Project results due to fruitful cooperation during its implementation.   

At the same time, Nadiia Bihun,Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, thanked foreign partners and representatives of the AMCU for the opportunity to effectively cooperate in the implementation of antitrust policy. Also, Nadiia Bihun noted that the exchange of best practices between the Project partners will contribute to the further recovery of Ukraine’s economy through the implementation of European standards and market development. 

Roxolana Pidlasa,Head of the Budget Committee, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in her speech underlined the strategic importance of this Project and emphasized that despite the necessity of implementing a number of priority measures and following the recommendations for further steps developed during the Project implementation, the Draft Law No. 5431 is important for the implementation of the antimonopoly reform.

Furthermore,  Šarūnas Keserauskas, RTA,  expressed gratitude to the Project partners for their high professionalism and coordinated cooperation aimed at achieving the mandatory results.

The speeches were also delivered by Šarūnas Keserauskas, MS Project leader, Konrad Ost and Cosmin Belacurencu,MS Project Co-leaders, as well as the Project Component Leaders of the AMCU.

On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring took part in the meeting.

For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.

On February 21, 2023, in the online mode the 12^th Steering Committee meeting for the Twinning Project for the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (hereinafter – AMCU) “Support to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in further approximation of legal, procedural and case enforcement practices with EU antitrust and merger control practices” (hereinafter – Project), which is being implemented jointly by a consortium of EU Member States, namely Lithuania, Germany and Romania took place.

The aim of the Twinning Project is to increase the effectiveness, transparency and consistency of the antitrust policy in Ukraine on the basis of closer alignment of national antitrust legislation to the legislation of EU Member States in accordance with the requirements of the Association Agreement between European Union and Ukraine.

Šarūnas Keserauskas, MS Project leader, delivered a welcoming address to the participants of the meeting and presented the agenda.

In turn, Olga Pishchanska, BC Project Leader, welcomed the participants of the meeting and expressed gratitude to the partners for effective cooperation. Olha Pishchanska focused attention on key achievements of the last reporting period, in particular, emphasized the performance indicators under the draft Law No. 5431.

For its part, Šarūnas Pajarskas, RTA, presented the practical results of the Project implementation which were achieved during the implementation period. In particular, the Project implementation, which lasted about 787 working days, involved at least 65 experts: 28 – from Germany, 23 – from Romania, and 14 – from Lithuania. 16 trainings on competition policy (jointly with USAID-FTC), 6 trainings on quantitative methods in economic analysis, 4 trainings on economic issues and 35 consultations on particular questions identified in investigations, court cases, or market studies were held within the framework of the Project. In addition, the Project partners provided 9 lectures to university students jointly with USAID-FTC program. Šarūnas Pajarskas directly outlined the main achievements in accordance with the legislative changes, namely, presented 2 stages of preparation and implementation of the draft Law No. 5431 and relevant bylaws.

Furthermore, Olha Nechytailo, BC Component 1 leader, thanked for the fruitful cooperation and emphasized the importance of further work within the framework of the mentioned draft Law.

The participants of the meeting expressed their gratitude and support for the Project implementation, focusing on the main achievements and further directions of activity of the AMCU.

The meeting was attended by Project experts, representatives of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine and AMCU.

On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union Anatolii Sopilka, Head of the Project Management Department and Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring took part in the meeting.

For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.

On February 10, 2023, in the online mode the 5th Steering Committee meeting for the Twinning Project for Ministry of Economy of Ukraine “Strengthening the institutional capacity of Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture (META) of Ukraine in the field of National Quality Infrastructure” (hereinafter – the Project), which is being implemented jointly with the standardization and certification authorities of the Czech and Latvian Republics took place.

The aim of the Twinning Project is to improve the business climate, competitiveness, innovation and integration of Ukraine into the EU internal market by improving its national quality infrastructure.

Peter Kiska, RTA, delivered a welcoming address to the participants of the meeting and presented the agenda.

In turn, Miroslav Chloupek, MS Project Leader, Deputy President of the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing welcomed the participants of the meeting and thanked the representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine for effective cooperation.

At the same time, Chloe Allio, Head of Section Operations “Economic Cooperation, Energy, Infrastructure and Environment” of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, addressed the participants with words of support and emphasized the importance of further cooperation within the Project.

In the welcoming part, Tetiana Melnychenko, a representative of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, stressed the importance of the activities carried out within the framework of the reporting quarter and expressed appreciation to the experts for their support in the implementation of the Twinning Project, which contributes to strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine the development of policy in the area of national quality infrastructure.

In addition, Oleksandr Pankov, BC RTA Counterpart, Head of Technical Regulation Mineconomy of Ukraine, thanked the representatives of the partner countries in promoting the Project implementation and providing relevant methodological and advisory assistance.

Peter Kiska, RTA, presented the Quarterly report, outlining the implemented activities for components and rolling plans for the next reporting period. In particular, 5 webinars were held and online consultations on Regulation 2019/1020 on Market Surveillance and Product Compliance were provided within the framework of reporting period. In turn, Linda Rinkule, leader of Component IV: “Drawing up a scheme of functional organization of procedures and strategies for market surveillance and consumer protection, as well as institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine on management processes”, in her speech presented the main results and directions for further cooperation.

The meeting was attended by Project experts, representatives of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and other stakeholders.

On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service Anatolii Sopilka, Head of the Project Management Department and Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring took part in the meeting.

For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.

On February 01, 2023, the meeting with the representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine, Japan International Cooperation Agency, National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service and Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union on cooperation in the framework of professional training of civil servants through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation was held.

During the meeting, the parties defined the directions of cooperation aimed to increase the skills of civil servants in various areas of activity, including the implementations and use of HR-tools, digitalization of public administration and remuneration based on job classification.

Also, the participants discussed the perspectives and opportunities of cooperation on training civil servants in the long term. In the context of future cooperation and public administration reform, Japanese representatives have expressed their interest in providing assistance in view of its experience in applying best practices in civil service and disseminating innovative approaches to public sector development.

In turn, representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency presented the experience and opportunities of attracting assistance under short-term and long-term programs that will contribute to the country’s economic and social growth.

The meeting contributed to a fruitful and partnership discussion of the perspectives for further cooperation in order to institutionalize the process of organizing training and professional development of civil servants through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation.

For reference: the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union has been designated as the responsible institution for organizing professional training. The Center has significant experience in cooperation with institutions of the European Union Member States, international organizations, international technical assistance programs and projects, and is the coordinator of Twinning and TAIEX institution building instruments in Ukraine.

Підвищення якості професійного навчання державних службовців залишається одним з пріоритетних напрямків реформування державного управління. Особливо з огляду на процеси реформування, що здійснюються на виконання зобов’язань України у рамках Угоди про асоціацію з Європейським Союзом.

10 вересня 2022 року постановою Кабінету Міністрів України №1028 затверджено Положення про організацію професійного навчання державних службовців, керівників державних підприємств, установ, організацій за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародної співпраці.

Положення, розроблене НАДС спільно з Секретаріатом Кабінету Міністрів України, визначає покроковий механізм організації професійного навчання державних службовців міністерств, інших центральних та місцевих органів виконавчої влади, державних службовців та працівників, на яких поширюється дія Закону «Про державну службу». 

Таке професійне навчання може проводитися як в Україні, так і за кордоном за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародного співробітництва. 

Відповідно до Положення органи державної влади щорічно до 1 лютого надають НАДС інформацію про потреби та пріоритетні напрями професійного навчання за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародної співпраці. У свою чергу, НАДС узагальнює та надає відповідну інформацію Секретаріату Кабінету Міністрів України до 1 березня. 

Секретаріат Кабінету Міністрів України як координатор діяльності, пов’язаної із залученням міжнародної технічної допомоги, ознайомлює партнерів з розвитку з потребами і пріоритетними напрямами професійного навчання. 

Крім того, Секретаріат Кабінету Міністрів України та НАДС отримують від партнерів з розвитку інформацію про можливості професійного навчання за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та строки подання пропозицій щодо кандидатур державних службовців, керівників державних підприємств, установ, організацій для проходження професійного навчання.

НАДС здійснює інформування органів державної влади щодо можливості професійного навчання за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги, а також розміщує відповідну інформацію на офіційному веб-сайті НАДС і веб-порталі управління знаннями у сфері професійного навчання “Портал управління знаннями” . Зі свого боку НАДС також забезпечує формування навчальних груп для проходження професійного навчання за кордоном за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги або інших форм міжнародного співробітництва за кожною окремою програмою професійного навчання.

Про результати професійного навчання, що здійснюється за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародного співробітництва, органи державної влади інформують  НАДС до 15 січня за формою згідно з додатком 2 до Положення для її узагальнення та подання до 15 лютого Секретаріату Кабінету Міністрів України звіту про результати професійного навчання за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародного співробітництва.

Покроковий механізм організації професійного навчання державних службовців за рахунок міжнародної технічної допомоги та інших форм міжнародного співробітництва 

Improving the quality of professional training of civil servants remains one of the priority areas of public administration reform. It is especially in view of the reform processes being implemented in fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the European Union Association Agreement.

On September 10, 2022 the Regulation on the organization of professional training of civil servants, heads of state enterprises, institutions, organizations through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation was approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No 1028.

The Regulation developed by NAUCS jointly with the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine defines a step-by-step mechanism for organization professional training of civil servants of ministries, other central and local executive authorities, civil servants and employees covered by the Law “On Civil Service”.

Such training can be conducted both in Ukraine and abroad through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation.

According to the  Regulation, government authorities provide NAUCS annually by February 01 with information on the needs and priority areas of professional training through  international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation. In turn, NAUCS summarizes and provides relevant information to the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by March 01.

The Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as the coordinator of activities related to international technical assistance, provides development partners with the needs and priority areas of professional training through international technical assistance.

In addition, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and NAUCS receive information from development partners about opportunities for professional training through international technical assistance and deadlines for submitting proposals on the candidates of civil servants, heads of state enterprises, institutions, and organizations for professional training.

NAUCS informs government authorities about the possibility of professional training through international technical assistance, in particular by posting relevant information on the official website of NAUCS and knowledge management web-portal in the field of professional training “Knowledge management portal”. For its part, NAUCS ensures the formation of training groups for professional training abroad through international technical assistance or other forms of international cooperation for each professional training program. 

The government authorities shall inform NAUCS on the results of professional training carried out through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation by January 15 in the form according to Appendix 2 of the Regulation for its generalization and submission to the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of a report on the results of professional training through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation by February 15.

Step-by-step mechanism for organization professional training of civil servants through international technical assistance and other forms of international cooperation.

On December 21, 2022, the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union and T. H. Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Colehium” signed an agreement on partnership and cooperation.

The agreement has been signed between the parties represented by the Director of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union Maryna Kanavets and the Rector of the T. H. Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Colehium” Oleh Sheremet.

The purpose of the document is to establish cooperation between the parties on scientific and practical projects and programs, joint scientific and educational activities, including international ones, exchange of study visits and experience, development and publication of materials, informational and methodological materials on public administration and civil service, professional development of civil servants, local self-government officials, heads of local state administrations, deputies of local councils, development of proposals on the work of institutions under martial law in Ukraine.

“The signing of the agreement on partnership and cooperation is another important step in strengthening cooperation between state institutions and institutions of higher education toward studying and improving the best practices and approaches of public administration in the context of European integration, achieving peace and building the state after the victory”, the Director of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union Maryna Kanavets noted.

On December 22, 2022, in the online mode the 7^th Steering Committee Meeting of the Twinning Project “Strengthening the institutional and regulatory capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine to implement EU-Ukraine Association Agreement” (hereinafter – Project), the beneficiary of which is National Bank of Ukraine (hereinafter – NBU), took place.

The Project is being implemented jointly with Narodowy Bank Polski of the Republic of Poland and Lietuvos bankas of the Republic of Lithuania.

The aim of the Twinning Project is to promote macroeconomic stability by increasing the institutional capacity of the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as by developing a reliable banking and payment infrastructure.

Paweł Samecki, MS Project Leader, Narodowy Bank Polski, delivered a welcoming address to the participants of the meeting and presented the agenda.

In turn, Volodymyr Kuchyn, BC Project Leader, welcomed the participants of the meeting and thanked the representatives of the European side for effective cooperation in the implementation of the Project.

Dariusz Lewandowski, Resident Twinning Adviser, presented the practical results of the Project implementation which were achieved during the reporting period. In particular, 7 online meetings involving experts and 1 Steering Committee Meeting were held, and 2 Side Letters were prepared. In addition, Resident Twinning Adviser presented in detail the results in accordance with the components of the Project, in particular, the development of instant payments model, the implementation of a management and planning model in the system of the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as the holding of expert forum for the central banks of the Eastern Partnership.

At the same time, Volodymyr Kuchyn outlined the main achievements according to the components of the Project, in particular, identified the key results on issues of policy development within the framework of the Twinning Project.

For his part, the representative of the international department of the Narodowy Bank Polski Marcin Staniewicz, presented the quarterly financial report and information about communication activities within the Project.

The experts and partners of the Project approved the work plan, discussed the planned activities for all components and plans for the next reporting period.

The meeting was attended by Project experts, representatives of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine and NBU.

On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service Anatolii Sopilka, Head of the Project Management Department and Olena Honcharuk, Senior Consultant of the Twinning Coordination Division of the Unit of Twinning Programme Administration Office activities ensuring took part in the meeting.

For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.